Pompeo in Egypt amid concerns about US Mideast policy

Pompeo in Egypt amid concerns about US Mideast policy

By

Associated Press

Published: 08:26, January 10, 2019

| updated: 09:18, January 10, 2019

CAIRO (AP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian leaders while continuing a Middle East tour of nine countries to convince America's Arab partners that the Trump government is not runs away from the region.

Amidst confusion over the government's plans to withdraw the US armed forces from Syria, Pompeo met with the Egyptian president and the foreign minister on Thursday to discuss security and economic cooperation.

He would also give a speech on the broader goals of the Middle East in Washington.

Pompeo arrived in Egypt after stops in Jordan and Iraq, where he tried to assure leaders that withdrawal from Syria does not mean that the US will abandon the fight against the Islamic State Group or relieve pressure on Iran. From Egypt, Pompeo will travel to the Arabian Gulf countries to prosecute the case.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan, rightly so, are greeted by Assistant Secretary of State North and South American Affairs, Reda Habeeb Ibrahim Zaki, second from the left, and Charge d & # 39; Affaires for the US Embassy in Egypt, Tom Goldberger on arrival at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Wednesday 9 January 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan, rightly so, are greeted by Assistant Secretary of State North and South American Affairs, Reda Habeeb Ibrahim Zaki, second from the left, and Charge d & # 39; Affaires for the US Embassy in Egypt, Tom Goldberger, on arrival at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Wednesday 9 January 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)

American secretary of state Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan, second from the right, arrive at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Wednesday, January 9, 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan, rightly so, are greeted by Assistant Secretary of State North and South American Affairs, Reda Habeeb Ibrahim Zaki, second from the left, and Charge d & # 39; Affaires for the US Embassy in Egypt, Tom Goldberger, on arrival at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Wednesday 9 January 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will speak with the media on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at the American embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad after his tour of Irbil in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan, rightly so, are greeted by Assistant Secretary of State North and South American Affairs, Reda Habeeb Ibrahim Zaki, second from the left, and Charge d & # 39; Affaires for the US Embassy in Egypt, Tom Goldberger on arrival at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Wednesday 9 January 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Pool Photo via AP)